


Lady Tewkesbury Reflects

by adumbledore



Series: As the World Watches [1]
Category: Enola Holmes (2020)
Genre: Character Study, Class Differences, Drabble, Family, Family Fluff, I know a weird amount about 19th century etiquette, Introspection, POV Outsider, Victorian Attitudes, and every aristocrat is canonically called the wrong title, but I didn't wanna be confusing so I called them what they're called in the movie, it was physically painful for me to call them the wrong thing, literally only thing that bothered me about the movie, so anyways you should read my fic lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2020-11-10
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:07:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27486262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adumbledore/pseuds/adumbledore
Summary: Lady Tewkesbury reflects on her life, her son, and Enola Holmes and she watches him speak to her through the gates of parliament.A short drabble fully inspired by another work (tagged within the fic!), but a slightly different take based on my knowledge of eighteenth century customs.
Relationships: Enola Holmes/Viscount "Tewky" Tewksbury
Series: As the World Watches [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2024026
Comments: 14
Kudos: 291





	Lady Tewkesbury Reflects

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Lady Tewkesbury's Thoughts on Enola Holmes](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27307963) by [lilacsandlavender](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilacsandlavender/pseuds/lilacsandlavender). 



Lady Tewkesbury never had the pleasure of a love match. It just wasn’t practical for a young woman of her status. Born Lady Margaret Birmington, she was taught right from birth of her duties: learn to paint and embroider and play the piano-become an accomplished young lady, then make a good match, govern her husband’s household, and provide him with heirs. Peggy, her governess had called her. Her parents were rarely concerned with her, focusing any attention on her brother, but when they did speak to her they called her Margaret. Or ‘dear’, in her father’s case. Sometimes she had wondered if he called her that because he forgot her name. Her friends are all required by propriety to call her Lady Margaret, or later Lady Tewkesbury, and everyone else in the world has always called her Your Ladyship. 

Titles are important in her family. They always have been. Not just to the gentry and the aristocracy; all strangers are always  _ Miss  _ or  _ Mrs.  _ or  _ Mr. _ Only servants, once hired, are called by their given names, and even then only the young unmarried girls. So when she returns from London to find her missing son and a girl holding her mother-in-law prisoner, the most shocking part about it all is that the girl introduces herself as Enola. 

When Lady Margaret was nineteen, she married the late Viscount Tewkesbury, heir to the march of Basilweather, and from that day forward was known as Lady Tewkesbury. She did not love him; she tolerated him, she found his company pleasant, she supposed that one day they could be friends. He was a kind, intelligent, and most importantly, a suitable match in terms of status and wealth. Her new mother-in-law had approved of her for the same reasons she had agreed to marry her husband, and respected her dedication to her duty. Lady Tewkesbury’s life was content and enjoyable, which was all she could ask for.

A few years later, her son was born. Her husband named him Nicholas, after his father, and suddenly, perhaps for the first time ever, Lady Tewkesbury had a source of joy. He was a happy baby, and she a happy young mother, and as he grew up she paid much more attention to him than was expected, or even acceptable, for such a high-ranking family. Margaret didn’t care. He was her  _ son _ , her child, and he was the only person in the entire world she could imagine breaching propriety for. Nicholas grew up to be a gentle boy, more interested in flowers and botany than hunting and science like he was meant to be. This never concerned her. He was her greatest pride, her only love, and the entire purpose for her existence. And he ran away.

They are standing outside of the House of Lords now, just before his induction. He is so grown up now, so strong. He has been Viscount Tewkesbury since his birth, and soon, in just a few minutes, he will become the Marquess of Basilweather. He is and always will be her Nicholas. She is fussing over him because she can, because he has been gone for so long, and she will lose no opportunity to let him know she loves him. And then a girl in an all too simple dress approaches the gate, her hair loosely done and uncovered, breaking every rule of propriety Lady Tewkesbury can think of. Enola Holmes.

After he returned, he told her that Enola-  _ Miss Holmes _ , she corrected him a thousand times, to no avail- was the reason he had returned. He told her of the many times Miss Holmes had saved his life. Margaret has lived a strict life, governed by rules and ordinances, surrounded only by those who follow the same strict code that she does. Enola Holmes is not someone she ever expected to approve of. But my god, her love for her son outweighs any loyalty to any code of conduct, and Enola has brought him back to her, alive and happy. For this, she has permanently cemented her place in Lady Tewkesbury’s heart. 

At the gate, Miss Holmes covers his hand with hers, and Lady Tewkesbury is delighted. This is not the daughter-in-law she had pictured-that had been an accomplished society girl (with her own title, preferably), with a large dowry and a firm understanding of upper class customs. Enola Holmes is nothing like she expected. She is coarse and unrefined, stubborn, and worst of all, ambitious, which is not something any respectable young woman should be. Lady Tewkesbury is not a reformer, and she is certainly not a feminist. But her son is clearly a progressive, and she loves him far more than any ideal. Maybe he needs a headstrong young woman unafraid to speak her mind. Who is Lady Tewkesbury to say what the best match for her son would be?

Besides, Enola saved his life, and for that she would forgive even the most unbearable flaws. The girl is a genius (far too brilliant for her son, if she’ll admit it), pretty, and although her family is not wealthy, she is well-bred. A class below their aristocracy, but still, no one has ever begrudged a marriage to the gentry. Not to mention that  _ Holmes  _ is now a household name thanks to Sherlock (and Enola soon too, if she is given her way), and an alliance with that family is fortunate indeed.

And besides, most of all, more than anything, her boy is clearly in love. 

  
  



End file.
